American Airlines launches cheap economy fares

On Tuesday, the Fort Worth-based carrier began selling its “basic economy” fare on 10 routes, including Dallas/Fort Worth to Baltimore, Philadelphia and Tampa. Prices range from $90 for a one-way ticket from DFW to Baltimore and $148 from DFW to Philadelphia.

The fares were going fast. Within an hour of the fares posting to American’s website, several of the cheap fares searched by the Fort Worth Star-Telegram already were unavailable. American said it would be limiting the number of seats on the flights on these routes as it tests the new fare structure.

While the fares may be rock-bottom, customers who buy these types of tickets will face several restrictions. Passengers with basic economy fares will be allowed to bring only a carry-on or personal item that fits underneath the seat in front of them, and they will not be allowed to upgrade to regular economy, business class or first class. The tickets are also nonrefundable and cannot be changed. Seating assignments will be made only when the customer checks in.

Norwegian Air promises bargain flights to Europe

WARWICK, R.I.

Low-cost carrier Norwegian Air Shuttle is promising to boost traffic at smaller airports on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean when it starts service to Europe this summer from Rhode Island, Connecticut and New York.

Norwegian Air announced Thursday that it’s opening new flight crew bases and plans to hire pilots and flight attendants at Rhode Island’s T.F. Green Airport and Stewart International Airport in Newburgh, N.Y., about 60 miles north of New York City. Year-round flights from those airports to Edinburgh, Scotland, begin in June, and to four airports in Ireland and Northern Ireland in July.

There also will be flights to Edinburgh from Connecticut’s Bradley International Airport, near Hartford. Officials who represent the three Northeast airports and their counterparts in Ireland celebrated the move as a boon for family vacationers, business travelers and local jobs and tourism.

“Everyone would rather fly out of here than schlep to Boston,” said Rhode Island Democratic Gov. Gina Raimondo, speaking during a news conference at the airport in Warwick, just south of Providence and about an hour’s drive from Logan Airport in Boston.

Geography quiz

Q. Name the five largest cities by population in the U.S.

A. New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Houston and Philadelphia. Populations range from more than 8 million in New York to 1.5 million in Philadelphia.